Nick Swisher almost certain to leave Yankees and take his neon personality with himWilliam Perlman/The Star Ledger

Three key members of the 2012 Yankees have decided to test the free-agent market. Rather than accept the qualifying offers of one-year for $13.3 million, pitchers Hiroki Kuroda and Rafael Soriano and outfielder Nick Swisher have informed the club they will seek a better deal on the open market.

Under Major League Baseball’s new collective bargaining agreement, teams can make one-year qualifying offers for the average of the previous season’s top 125 salaries — this year’s is $13.3 million — to any impending free agent. If the player declines, he can still re-sign with his old team at a different price.

While Soriano and Kuroda will be negotiating with the Yankees, it is all but certain that Swisher will move on to a new club. By rejecting the offers, those three effectively gave the Yankees an additional $39.9 million to work with this winter.

The Yankees made the qualifying offers to protect themselves from getting nothing in return should these players sign elsewhere. If the players leave now, the Yankees will receive a compensation draft pick between the first and second rounds, determined by reverse order of winning percentage. The system replaced MLB’s old practice of classifying free agents as Type A and Type B, and determining compensation through those classifications.

Kuroda, 37, went 16-11 with a 3.32 ERA last season, and the Yankees would like to re-sign him to a one-year deal. However, with Kuroda having proved he can pitch in the American League, other suitors might offer a multiyear contract. The veteran right-hander has also hinted he may want to finish his career at home in Japan.

Soriano, 32, saved 42 games in 46 chances after Mariano Rivera’s season-ending injury in May. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said this week he believes Soriano will be looking to sign with a team that is looking for a closer, or at least a team that is willing to pay him like a closer. With Rivera scheduled to return in 2013, Soriano would at least begin the season in a setup role.

Swisher, 31, hit .272 with 24 home runs in 148 games this past season, his fourth with the Yankees. But in the postseason, he hit just .167 with no home runs. Swisher will be looking for a significant raise in a multiyear deal, which all but excludes him from the Yankees’ long-term plan, which is to be beneath MLB’s $189 million luxury tax threshold for 2014.